Thursday, 29 March 2012

A thought for Nostalgia

I had to write a post to support one of our shops in the town. Niki was feeling very let down today after driving to her shop in the Market Square to drop of her lovely handmade items and hand painted furniture only to find a row of bollards bocking her entry.

Niki lives in Bath and was totally unaware of the scheme introduced by the Council (to prevent damage, I presume, to the paving) having received no letter to inform her. With no back entrance how will she manage 'on her own' to restock her shop? An obstacle I am sure would have prevented her leasing the shop two years ago and will restrict the type of occupancy in the shops beyond the bollards in the future, or will keys be made available?

Please support our little shops and buy British made goods, its Easter soon and Nostalgia has some lovely gifts ...spare a little thought on your way to Tesco's

Hi B,Thank you for your kind words of support. I am working on a lengthy letter to the council, as I am very upset and angry by what has happened. Even if keys were available to me to take down the bollards when I needed to make deliveries, its not necessarily the answer...Logistically it makes 'toing and froing' to my shop a nightmare (not to mention lifting these weighty things!) - and customers who might purchase a piece of furniture from me will no longer be able to pick up from outside my shop with their vehicle...If I had a key and were to take out the bollard so they could access the Market Place, I'd have to lock my shop whilst I did so...all VERY inconvenient and difficult to juggle on my own...Or the other option, involving me carrying items with customers up the high street to the parking spaces beyond the bollards, would also mean I'd have to close the shop whilst I did this.

I am also worried that emergency service vehicles cannot access the shops/flats in the lower half of the high street very quickly or easily with these in place.

I obviously have an excellent view of the market place from my shop and can count on one hand how many times a vehicle drives onto it each day...I can see no real evidence of any damage (certainly not any greater than general wear and tear on our roads and pavements) to justify closing off this end of town. Who made the decision to put up barriers and what evidence do they have that this will actually help the Market Place...(who now will be weeding the paving slabs too, as that will be the next problem?!!)- Surely the council should be making it easier for the retailers to try to make a living, rather than adding obstacles in their path?!! Goodness knows its hard enough - I can assure you I would not have taken out the lease on this particular shop had I known that the access to it was to be compromised in this way.

GET RID OF THE BOLLARDS!!! And stop alienating this half of the High Street.

We have just re-opened No21 Town Street selling reclaimed garden items. On occasion, admittedly not frequently, we need to park the car outside our shop. We have some very heavy items in awkward shapes that will be impossible to transport now. It will restrict what we sell and deliver to our customers No21x

4 comments:

Hi B,Thank you for your kind words of support. I am working on a lengthy letter to the council, as I am very upset and angry by what has happened. Even if keys were available to me to take down the bollards when I needed to make deliveries, its not necessarily the answer...Logistically it makes 'toing and froing' to my shop a nightmare (not to mention lifting these weighty things!) - and customers who might purchase a piece of furniture from me will no longer be able to pick up from outside my shop with their vehicle...If I had a key and were to take out the bollard so they could access the Market Place, I'd have to lock my shop whilst I did so...all VERY inconvenient and difficult to juggle on my own...Or the other option, involving me carrying items with customers up the high street to the parking spaces beyond the bollards, would also mean I'd have to close the shop whilst I did this.

I am also worried that emergency service vehicles cannot access the shops/flats in the lower half of the high street very quickly or easily with these in place.

I obviously have an excellent view of the market place from my shop and can count on one hand how many times a vehicle drives onto it each day...I can see no real evidence of any damage (certainly not any greater than general wear and tear on our roads and pavements) to justify closing off this end of town. Who made the decision to put up barriers and what evidence do they have that this will actually help the Market Place...(who now will be weeding the paving slabs too, as that will be the next problem?!!)- Surely the council should be making it easier for the retailers to try to make a living, rather than adding obstacles in their path?!! Goodness knows its hard enough - I can assure you I would not have taken out the lease on this particular shop had I known that the access to it was to be compromised in this way.

GET RID OF THE BOLLARDS!!! And stop alienating this half of the High Street.

We have just re-opened No21 Town Street selling reclaimed garden items. On occasion, admittedly not frequently, we need to park the car outside our shop. We have some very heavy items in awkward shapes that will be impossible to transport now. It will restrict what we sell and deliver to our customers No21x

Hi B,I have been informed who best to forward any complaints to, so if anyone else would like to make their feelings known please contact the Chairman, Cllr Chris Inchley, as the decision was made in partnership between the town council and Somerset County Council.Thanks,Niki